The approval enables the university to plan for banners to edge the perimeter of campus with a short extension into La Jolla Shores.

The La Jolla Shores Association ratified an agreement with UC San Diego regarding the establishment of a UCSD banner district around campus. 

The ratification at the Sept 17 LJSA meeting, followed discussions between the group and the university to modify earlier plans to place the banners along streets that LJSA members felt might encroach on LJSA’s purview and compete with Shores-related activities and businesses.

A banner district will allow UCSD to place banners – which cannot contain commercial, political or religious content – on city of San Diego-owned light poles.

The banners are “about creating a sense of place for surrounding the university,” Erin Shepler, who works in UCSD marketing.

The proposed banners will highlight “some of the amazing cultural and entertainment and public value that the university brings to the community,” she said.

Proposed UCSD banner district

The banner district map has been modified from an earlier version and will encompass the roads adjacent to the university: Regents Road to the east; La Jolla Village Drive to the south; and North Torrey Pines Road to the west.

The district will also include Torrey Pines Scenic Drive.

A longer portion of La Jolla Shores Drive was in the original map; the banners would now be placed only from just south of Horizon Way to Naga Way. 

The banner district map does not mean “that every single pole is either viable or going to be selected,” Shepler said, adding poles will be evaluated for feasibility (no banners will be plaed on poles with city signage), “desirability and strategic relevance to the goal of the project.”

Shepler indicated it is likely banners would only line the UCSD-adjacent sides of North Torrey Pines Road and La Jolla Village Drive.

The proposal will now proceed through city review processes, said Anu Delouri, UCSD director of campus community relations. 

The banner district would be implemented once it receives city approval and university funding, with Shepler noting there are no funds allocated at this time.